Yum! Brands (YUM) stock: Winston Score and insider trades

§Winston Score History

Yum! Brands owns three of the most recognized fast-food chains in the world: KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. It serves everyday consumers looking for affordable, quick meals across chicken, pizza, and Mexican-style food categories. With over 55,000 locations worldwide, it is one of the largest fast-food companies on the planet.

Most of Yum!'s revenue comes from franchise fees and royalties, meaning independent operators pay Yum! to run restaurants under its brand names. This franchise-heavy model keeps costs low and generates steady income, which explains its strong operating margins above 30%. The company operates in roughly 155 countries, with significant exposure to emerging markets like China through its franchisee Yum China. The key growth driver is expanding its digital ordering and loyalty programs, which increase customer frequency, though rising competition from other fast-food chains and pressure on low-income consumers from inflation remain real risks to same-store sales growth.

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Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+12.3% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

Reported EPS Growth

+131.3% YoY

Quarterly reporting periods ended:

30 Jun 2025: $1.34

30 Jun 2026: $3.10

Reported/statutory EPS, not adjusted or underlying earnings. One-off items can affect this figure. Provider rounding can affect the growth rate.

YoY Growth Rate

Reported EPS increased year over year

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

0.1%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$674M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

→ Burn rate stable

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth + cash flow

Yum! Brands is a rare growth stock that's already generating positive cash flow while growing at 12%. The Winston Score doesn't fully credit this transition from "burner" to "earner."

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

47.3%

Healthy — 47.3% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

30.2%

Excellent — 30.2% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

12.7%

Good — 12.7% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+10.3%

Steady sales growth (+10.3% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

+56.8%

Earnings growing fast (+56.8% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

5/8 quarters

Mixed — about half the quarters showed growth

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

94%

Modest — 94% of profit becomes cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

19.3%

Converts sales into free cash efficiently (19.3%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

N/A

—

Data not available

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

5.27x

Adequate interest coverage (5.3x)

Interest coverage between 3 and 8. Profits cover interest several times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

18.7x

Fair value — P/E 18.7

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

+0.0

GROWING

Earnings roughly flat

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

1.99%

Small dividend — 1.99% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+5.7%

Dividend growing modestly (5.7% YoY)

Payout Ratio

36%

no trend

Pays out a modest share of profit and keeps the rest to reinvest. Room to keep paying through a weak year.

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Yum! Brands

§How the score breaks down

Share count falling — buybacks

§Winston Score History

Politician Trades

Growth Profile

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Quality

Growth

Cash Flow

Stability

Valuation

Dividends